


How to Deal with a Problem

by Adhuber



Series: Laura [19]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M, Strong Language, based on the movie Stranger on a Train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27701207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adhuber/pseuds/Adhuber
Summary: The toughest cop in the city of Chicago – Hank Voight has just been assigned a new case.  As leads come up as dead ends the case begins to get cold when another murder happens.  No connections between either victim other than one that makes Hank wonder if these murders were not justified.  With the Ivory Tower breathing down his neck, Hank may need his wife to help get this case solved and those at 3510 South Michigan off his back.
Relationships: Hank Voight/Original Female Character(s), Jay Halstead/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Laura [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538185
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Two women sit on the train – both are dressed in casual clothing – one wears large sun glasses the other keeps pulling down on her shirtsleeves. 

“You are okay doing this?” sunglasses asks?

“Yes, and you,” as she nervously looks around. 

“After last night, yes.” 

The train screeches and stops, the two women clutch the other’s hand. 

As the train starts again, they release their hands and the next stop is announced, “Thank you,” long sleeves tells the woman before she gets up.

~~  
Hank was not thrilled he had to go meet with the new assistant superintendent. He had dealt with Brennan when she was in charge but this new woman seemed to have an ulterior motive. He had a feeling that if Laura was to see how this woman behaved that he might be bailing her out of jail – or worse be involved in a missing person’s case with Laura smiling sweetly as she sailed a boat back into the docks. Laura was at times a mystery. She was his loving wife, but any threat to her family and she was a different person. One even he did not want to mess with. 

“Darling, you seem tense?” as Laura comes up behind him and rubs her hands down his back. “I’d be happy to help you relax,” as she moves in front of him and bites at her lip and looks at him.

Hank knew what she suggested, “I have to go meet with the new Assistant Superintendent.”

“Oh, do I know this person?”

“Samantha Miller?”

“Hmm, no the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

“I don’t know her, what happened to Crawford? He reminded me of someone, I don’t know who, but”

“Miller is nothing like Crawford.”

“Let me know if you need any assistance, I’d be happy to speak with her.”

Hank knew that Laura’s idea of speaking to someone was to inform him or her that she was a valued Chicago citizen. She did not have qualms about pulling strings and the more he learned the more he realized her family and her deceased husband had lots of pull in the city. The pull they had was like the Daley’s or Capone’s. He had a feeling some of the dealings his father in law had were not always on the up and up. Laura always kept a look that implied perfection, but Hank knew she would not have any problem getting dirty or cleaning up a mess.

~~  
Walking into the Ivory Tower always gave Hank a small headache. Every time “they” contacted or demanded his presence, it was always frustrating. They either were trying to blame him for something or trying to take his badge. Maybe he should have brought Laura along. She might have a way of clearing a path for him. 

“You can go in,” the secretary told him before he walked through the closed door.

“Ma’am?” Hank said at attention.

“Hank glad you could come by,” the woman said as she bit at her lip and eyed him. “I have a case I would like for you and your team to work on.”

“Okay,” Hank felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“It’s kind of personal and I’d like to make sure that it gets solved. My cousin was murdered last night. His mouthy wife found him this morning. I’m sure she’s good for it, but I don’t want to persuade you one way or the other.”

“If you already have a suspect?”

“She has an alibi – was at her parents’ home. My cousin had a tendency to have a heavy hand.”

Hank listened and clenched his jaw at the terminology used. “So he was abusive?”

“She claims it but if you ever heard her, well some women need to know their place.”

Hank knew he had to hold his tongue, “send me the address. I’ll get my team over there.”

“Good, and Hank, maybe we can discuss this case this evening? A drink?”

Hank was about to turn when he looked back at the woman, “Excuse me?”

“I think you heard me.”

“My wife would love to meet us for a drink. Maybe you’d like to come over for dinner?” Hank had to make sure Miller was clear on his marital status. “You can meet the kids, I’m sure you have heard my wife and I just had triplets?” There is was, he wanted to laugh to himself as she made the disgusted look of finding out that her prey was well attached.

“I was unaware you were married.”

“Yeah, going on a year now. You might know her, she was Dr Laura Thornton over at Loyola University, and previous to that she was Laura Murphy.” Again, Hank wanted to laugh as the woman physically swallowed.

“Yes I knew Mark Thornton and the Murphy family. I didn’t realize you were wrapped up in”

“Small world. Laura and I had a whirlwind relationship, engagement, marriage. Feel free to give my wife a call; she handles my social calendar, now if you’ll excuse me I’ll get on that case.” Hank finally let the smile break across his lips as he walked out of the office. Yeah maybe he did need to bring Laura along for these meetings.


	2. Chapter 2

Hank contacted his team to meet him at the location. He was not very thrilled to be getting a case that involved an abusive husband. Really, he would like to make this case go away. He had to laugh to himself that the assistant Sup thought he was available for a drink. Talk about unprofessional. When he told Laura, she would surely get that look in her eye. Of course, it also meant that tonight would be a good night. Laura’s jealousy always ended up in the bedroom – as if she needed to prove to him that he did not need to look elsewhere. He did not have the energy for that. 

Parking his truck, he got out and moved under the crime scene tape. Seeing that Kevin was already there, he went to him. “What do we have?”

“Boss, it looks like someone came in and shot the man. There is no sign of forced entry, no fingerprints, nothing.”

“So he let whoever it was in the house?”

“Yeah or they had a key.”

“Any cameras?”

“Not yet. We are scouting the neighborhood. We might get lucky if the drug house down the street has some, but in this neighborhood” he leaves the sentence unfinished.

“Okay let’s look for street cameras. There has to be something.”

~~  
The case quickly came up with no leads. Nobody was willing to talk other than to say that the man was always beating on his wife and kids and that some men needed killing. Not exactly what he wanted to tell the assistant Sup. Going home, Hank knew that Laura would be interested in how this case was going. Ever since Miller had called him and he told Laura, she was on edge. Laura had that look in her eye that made Hank nervous. The thought always crossed his mind that Laura would have no issue eliminating the competition.

Walking into the house the dogs greeted him and he quickly made his way into the kitchen where Laura was preparing dinner and bottles for the babies. Rebecca smiled at Hank and quickly snagged the bottles and slipped out of the room. 

“How was your day?” Laura asked as she rolled out some dough on the counter.

“This case has hit a brick wall. Nobody will talk and those that do say the SOB deserved it.”

“And the wife is in the clear?”

“Yeah she has a tight alibi. Not only was she at her parents with the kids there is video of nobody leaving that house until the next morning.”

“Maybe he just pissed off the wrong guy?”

“Well how do I tell Miller that her cousin’s case isn’t going anywhere?”

“I can’t believe she wants to defend an abuser. But then Samantha Miller has always played by her own rules.”

It did not make Hank feel good that this new individual at the Ivory Tower happened to have a link to Hank’s family. Also that this link was not a positive one.

Getting a beer out of the fridge, “Why is it that we never met yet we seem to know so many of the same people?”

Laura turns around and wraps her arms around his neck, “Can you imagine what kind of talk would have happened had we met sooner?”

~~  
A few weeks later Hank’s team is called into another crime scene. This time only a few blocks from his and Laura’s home. As Hank got out of the truck to walk in, he could see individuals he was familiar with looking in. Walking into the house Hank sees a similar layout to his own home. 

“Boss, he’s in here,” he hears Jay call out. 

Hank walks into an identical kitchen as his own. “What do we got?”

“Matt Johnson, forty three, husband and father of two. Wife Carly was at her sister’s house, the couple had an argument last night and she and the kids left. This morning, Mr. Johnson’s girlfriend showed up and found him dead.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing she might have been what the argument was about.”

Hank shook his head and looked at the body on the floor of the kitchen. “Break in?”

“Looks like it. There is broken glass from the back deck.”

“Okay any cameras?”

“Yeah, but for some reason the cameras were moved.”

“Do we know when?”

“No, and it could have been the husband who moved them. Keep the wife from seeing who was coming over.”

“Great. Prints?”

“Not yet.”

“All right, let’s wrap this up.”

~~  
Looking at the case file Hank could not put his finger on what if anything would explain what happened. This new case they did find a person walk in and out but could not get any image of the persons face. The automobile the person arrived in was a common Toyota Corolla and the plate had some sort of shade on it to hide the plate. Just as Hank was about to close up the file and stop for the day, Deputy Superintendent Miller walked in. 

“Hank,” she said as she walked into his office and closed the door. “Do you have any leads on the case?”

Hank looked at the woman. She was attractive and her open buttons on the blouse drew his eye but he forced it up to her face. Laura would kill him with a flick of her finger if he gave this woman half a thought. 

“My family would like to know that whoever killed Joe is going to be put to prison.”

“Ma’am, my team is working as best as we can. We have found nothing. No cameras nothing to give us a clue who would do this.”

The woman put her hands on Hank’s desk and leaned over it. “I want to reiterate that I want you to succeed Hank, I’m not the bad guy here. I just want the city to know that even the small crimes are just as important as the big ones.”

“I agree, and we are working to solve this.”

“We could discuss this further over dinner.”

Hank looked at the woman carefully, “Ma’am I unfortunately have dinner waiting for me at home.”

“I looked into your story that you married Laura Murphy Thornton. You and her were involved when that incident at Loyola happened?”

Hank shifted his jaw and clenched it. “We had met.”

“Interesting. I knew Charles Murphy.”

Hank sat back in his chair and rolled the pen between his fingers. This information was not what he was expecting. Before he spoke, he thought he should let her tell him more.

“Charles helped me get my scholarship. He was a very persuasive man.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I learned a lot from him. How to get what I wanted. I think we could help each other.”

“Ma’am”

“Call me Sam.”

Hank stopped and bit back the words he was thinking. “I’m very happily married to my wife.”

“Everybody needs a hobby.”

“My hobby is keeping my wife happy. Now if you have anything else, I would like to get home to her and our children.”

“Keep me posted. I want whoever killed Joe in jail,” she told him before turning on her heel and opening the door.

Hank looked out to the bullpen where he saw his team watch the woman leave then turn back to Hank. Jay stood and walked into the office. “Everything okay?” Jay asked.

“You and Bec might want to take the kids out for dinner tonight. Laura isn’t going to be happy when I tell her what the Deputy just told me.”

Jay nodded, “I’m sure the kids will love going out. Do we need to take the triplets as well?”

“No, they will be my buffer.”


	3. Chapter 3

“She said what?”

Hank had gone home and told Laura the entire conversation. The look in her eyes told him that Deputy Superintendent Miller was probably going to have a one on one conversation with his wife. 

“There are days I miss Walter. So help me God if he was around he would be plotting this woman’s death. Oh, I mean figuratively but he would be so livid. As much of an asshole as he was he loved taking individual down. Putting them back in their place. Reminding them that they are human just like everyone.” Laura walked around, moved to the liquor cabinet, poured herself a drink, and tossed it back. “Is this why Rebecca and Jay took the boys out tonight?”

“I thought that it might be better if we could discuss this without prying ears.”

Setting the glass down Laura moves to her husband. “Do you find her attractive?”

“No,” as he pulls her close and wraps his arms around her. “She tries very hard and I’m only interested in the blue eyed brunette that I have waiting at home.” He leans down and captures Laura’s lips.

After a few minutes, Laura pulls Hank to their bedroom where she quickly undresses him and herself. 

~~  
“I’m going to make some calls tomorrow. I hope Samantha is aware of what she is about to unleash upon herself.”

Sitting up in bed Hank rubs his hand down Laura’s naked back. “I think she is a desperate woman,” he tells her. “Come here, I want to tell you something,” as he pulls her back next to him. 

Laura smiles before capturing her husband’s lips once again.

~~  
The two people stand in the observation car looking out at the scenery of the double decker train car traveling to Chicago. They both act nervous and keep looking around. The taller of the two finally hands the other an envelope. 

“The information is in there along with a key.”

Taking the envelope, the smaller person pulls out one as well and hands it off. “The same is in mine. Good luck.”

The two people go different directions and back to their original seats.

~~  
Hank gets ups in the morning and is making coffee when the Flynn and Grant come into the room. “Jay and Bec took us to this restaurant and there were tons of desserts,” Flynn tells him.

“It was so good. We should all go there. I bet Mom might even find something she likes.” Grant continues.

Hank smiles as he listens to the boys and flips on the TV to the local news. 

“Early this morning the bodies of real estate tycoon Aidan Hudson and his wife Gina were found dead. Neighbors tell WGN that the couple had been having marital problems and that Mrs. Hudson had just returned from visiting her mother in Kansas City. The couple have 3 children, 17, 15 and 6; they have been taken in DCFS custody. We will continue to follow this story as we receive more information.”

Hank takes a sip of his coffee and the two boys turn to Hank. 

“I bet the husband killed her.”

“Huh,” as he looks at Grant.

“It’s always the husband. He gets crazy and kills the wife then realizes he is going to go to jail and bites the bullet.”

“Where did you hear that?”

Flynn pipes up and answers, “Oh it’s on YouTube and all the games.”

“Huh, maybe we should be adding better parental controls”

“No, it’s cool,” Grant, tell him. “We know the difference.”

~~  
Going into the 21st, Hank nods at Platt who calls his name.

“What’s up Trudy?”

“I heard through the grapevine that a certain Assistant Superintendent has been sniffing around”

Sighing, Hank looked at the woman waiting for more.

“Her past might have been run and it looks like she has a problem with wanting things that aren’t hers.”

“Yeah well Laura doesn’t share and I’m not interested.”

“Keep it that way. The last city she was in, she created a fictitious relationship and sent it all to the wife. That police commissioner is divorced now paying five figures a month in support.”

“Nothing like that is going to happen here. First off Laura and I love each other very much and”

“Yeah well Laura may have to take care of the problem her own way.”

~~  
Upstairs Hank had his team working out any motive for someone to kill the latest victim. Nothing was coming up. 

Before the team was able to put much more time into the case, they were called into another murder. Arriving at the Gold coast home, they found a woman dead in the living room. “Jennifer Neal,” Hailey told him. “She works for WGN as one of their investigative reporters.”

Hank nodded, “Yeah I saw her on the news this morning.”

“From the looks of it, she came home; maybe startled an intruder and they killed her. The gun used was theirs.”

“Okay, so the criminal comes in to rob the house finds the gun and then uses it to kill her?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“This is broad day light. Do we have any cameras?”

Kevin walks in, “The husband said he was at work, there was a notification from UPS, he clicked a button and the garage was opened. Deliveryman dropped off the package then left. There is no sign of anyone coming or going.”

“Where is the husband now?”

“He’s out in a patrol car. We had two uniforms go pick him up.”

“What about inside cameras?”

“They didn’t have any. Just cameras outside.”

“I don’t know something seems strange.”

“Hey boss,” Kim calls out, “We found a broken vase and pictures in the trash. I asked the husband about it and he said his wife would get angry. He’s got a good lump on the back of his head from being hit.”

“So the wife was the abuser?”

Kim shrugs her shoulders. 

“Go talk to the neighbors. Somebody knows something.”

~~  
In the bullpen, Hank walked around and looked at the board. “I want to find out if these cases are somehow connected. They all have a couple of things in common. The spouse was abusive and they were all shot.”

“Boss, forensics says each of the guns used were different models, makes everything. No connection to previous crimes. The killer obviously took the gun with them except this last case.”

“There has to be some connection, these crimes just seem”

“Unusual?” a voice says as it comes into the room. The tall woman looks at Hank as if he is a piece of meat she is ready to devour. 

Hank frowned as the Assistant Superintendent walked into the room unannounced. “Ma’am, is there something we can do for you?”

“I’m coming to check on the progress of the case I assigned.”

Jay jumped up as he saw the frown Hank had on his face and the way the woman was looking at his boss. “There might be a connection between these cases.”

The woman looked at the victims. “Are you saying they were murdered because they didn’t like mouthy spouses that didn’t know their place?”

Hank was about to say something when he saw Platt coming up the steps with Laura. He had to hold back the smile he had, the show was about to get good. 

“Darling, I came to surprise you, and who do I find here but the trash my mother took out years ago.”

Kevin looked at Kim and Adam who both moved uncomfortably in their chairs. Hailey looked down not wanting to draw any attention to herself. Trudy was about to excuse herself when Laura stopped her. “You don’t need to leave yet Trudy, unless you need to escort Ms. Miller out.”

The other woman turned on her heel to stare at Hank’s wife. “Oh yes the spoiled princess. How could I ever forget?”

“You should know Samantha you were just one of the many women that came through my father’s revolving door from the university.”

“Charles and I”

“Don’t flatter yourself, you were just another notch in his headboard, or was it his desk?”

“You”

“Oh I know all about you. You should never have crossed Walter. He kept a file on everyone. I know all about how you made it through school and your sordid little relationships afterwards.”

“Walter? What are you talking about?”

“Walter Lydecker. He may have ended in prime fashion a year ago, but he knew everything about you. You shouldn’t have tried to climb in bed with him.”

“I”

“Walter liked his lovers to be very attentive”

“And what you would know?”

“No, I never sunk to those levels. I didn’t have to.”

“He expected me to”

“Yes he did, he wrote all about it and kept a file on you. Now then I’m not sure what has come across our current mayor’s brain to hire you, and trust me I will be asking, but you should be aware that any more attempts at seducing my husband away from me will only jeopardize your career.”

“I don’t seduce, men fall all over themselves for me.”

“Keep thinking that. You are in your 50s never married and have no children. You are too old to start now and do not even think that you can have what is mine. Now then, I see my husband and his team are working this case,” as Laura moves to Hank and lets her hand slide over his chest. She steps up and kisses him, pulling his bottom lip before letting go. “I brought cookies and cakes for everyone.” She then turns and Trudy seems to wake from the drama and motions several officers to come up with boxes of sweets. “Did you need anything else?” she asks the Deputy Superintendent.

“This isn’t over. Spoiled brats often lose their favorite toys.”

Hank was not sure if he could move or not, he swallowed as he saw a look cross Laura’s face. Murder.


	4. Chapter 4

A woman walks through the train car grabbing at the tops of the seats with each step as the train rambles along. Coming upon another woman, she pauses, “May I sit?” she asks politely.

The other woman looks up and takes her bag from the unused seat and sits it on the floor, “Of course,” she replies as she returns looking out the window.

“Train travel can be fun, at least you get to see all the beautiful scenery.”

“Yes,” the woman answers.

“It’s also much cheaper then flying.”

“That it is.”

“Are you returning to Chicago?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Oh?”

“My husband has begged I return, my family said to give him another chance,” as she gestures towards her broken arm. “I wonder how many more times I’ll ‘fall down the steps’ before I just say enough.”

“I understand. My husband just yells at me and accuses me of cheating on him. As if having four children isn’t enough.”

“Have you ever thought of exchanging your problem?”

“Yes, to get rid of one problem and to help another?”

The woman with the broken arm, reaches down and grasps the woman’s hand. “Strangers on a train”

“Yes. Here is the envelope and information. Don’t forget to burn and dispose of the key.”

The woman reaches for her bag and fumbles with it. “I’m sorry, I have it here”

Taking the bag from her a pink envelope sticks out, “is it this?”

“Yes. The information is inside.”

She takes the envelope and sets the bag back down. “Best of luck to you, and I’m sorry for your loss,” as she stands and winks. 

~~  
The case was getting frustrating. Hank had Mouse working on looking for any connections between the people. 

“Hey I think I might have something, it’s a stretch but” Mouse begins as he types away at his computers. 

“What?” Hank asks.

“Carly Johnson and Aiesha Miller both take the L every morning at 6:30. They could have met”

“Thousands of people ride the train.”

Jay comes up and looks at the information, “Even had they met, what they hatched a plan to kill the other’s husband?”

“What about this new case? Can you make a connection to John Neal being part of some conspiracy to kill abusive spouses?”

Mouse looks back at his computer. “No, but he just got back from a trip to St. Louis and rode the train.”

“Okay, and”

“Gina Hudson was on the same train.”

Hank looks confused, “She was murdered by her husband.”

“What if,” Hailey begins, “all these people are meeting secretly planning and planning to kill the other’s spouse?” 

“How would they even meet?”

Hailey just stopped and shrugged her shoulders.

~~  
Laura was busy in the library putting together her notes for a conference she was going to be a key speaker. Looking through her notes on the subject of Chicago and pandemics, she dreaded having to explain to people that these sorts of things happened throughout history. People didn’t like to hear that. They also didn’t like to hear that many diseases are contagious such as Tuberculosis, cholera, hepatitis and the flu. She was far from an expert on the current situation but she could discuss the effects of illnesses that had affected the city in the past. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” Hank asks.

Laura looks up from her papers and pulls off her glasses, “I don’t mind lecturing but to give a talk to a women’s group, I just don’t understand why I can’t speak about something more interesting such as women’s suffrage here in Chicago.”

“What are you going to talk about?”

“Pandemics here. I’ve tried to get ahold of Elsa Curry but she hasn’t returned my calls. I may have to call Will and see if he’d be willing to review my paper just to make sure I haven’t overlooked anything.”

“What kind of group is it?”

“The dean has asked me to speak to this support group – WOA, Women Overcoming Abuse. They have apparently had a large increase in membership during the Pandemic.”

“Really?” as Hank walks into the room and sits across from her. 

“The Dean says his wife – though not a member, gives financial support to help these individuals move on in their lives.”

“So how did you get invited?”

“I’m seen as a victim who overcame. My family shunning me for years, Mark being the distant husband and of course Walter being infatuated and wanting to kill me.”

“So are you talking about yourself?”

“Only shortly to give an idea to the group of who I am. How I have succeeded and am happily married to one of Chicago’s finest,” as she smiles and walks to her husband. “I’d love for you to come.”

Hank thinks about it, “I might, but I don’t want any of these women to feel uncomfortable with my presence,” as he watches her come and sit on his lap. “But I might want to send in Kim or Hailey.”

“That’s fine,” as she wraps her arms around them. “Is this related to your case?”

“It might be.”


	5. Chapter 5

Laura stood on the stage and smiled out at the group of women who were all spaced out and wearing their facemasks. She had just finished her speech on epidemics in the Chicago area and how it affected the city, “Does anyone have any questions?” she asked. When no one spoke, she turned to the host and took her seat on the stage.

“Ladies, I’m sure that you have found Dr. Voight’s lecture quite intriguing and you are just digesting all the information. Now then, we have refreshments in the back. Cookies are all individually wrapped and we have coffee and tea.”

Laura stood again, looked out at the audience, and saw the familiar faces of Kim and Hailey. Going down the steps, she moved cautiously around the women as they began to form a line and went to speak to her friends. “I really am not sure what Hank thinks you will learn from this group?” she told them.

Kim nodded as she looked at the group. “Yeah I don’t see how a group of women who are survivors are going to share anything with us.”

Laura looked at the two women; it was so hard to read their faces with masks on. “I’m going to go ahead and get a cup of coffee.”

As Laura got her coffee and stood, alone a young woman walked up to her. “Dr. Voight, thank you for speaking today.”

“I’m sure everyone here was probably hoping for information for the current pandemic.”

“No, it was nice to hear about something else. I took you history class back when you were a TA at Loyola.”

“Oh,” as Laura tries to recall the woman. 

“Don’t try to remember, it was one of the lecture halls that held over 150 students. I always enjoyed your lectures. They helped me escape?”

“Oh?”

“I married my husband out of high school and though the plan was for us to both go to college, he went into construction and well after a few years we weren’t the same people.” 

Laura took a sip of her coffee and waited for the woman to continue.

“The abuse started and I had to drop out of school. Couldn’t explain why I had a black eye on Monday.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Well about ten years ago and eight years of nonstop abuse, James went to work one day and didn’t come home. The police showed up and when I opened the door they rushed me to the ER because of the way I looked.”

“What happened to your husband?”

The woman laughs, “He apparently was still drunk from the night before and got to the construction site and walked right into the path of the wrecking ball. Took his head off.”

“Oh”

“The cops told me after I got a broken arm set and 25 stitches to my head.”

“I guess you were relieved?”

“Yeah, it meant I wouldn’t be a punching bag anymore. I also was fortunate enough to have a miscarriage at the time so I wasn’t bringing any bad blood into the world.”

Laura looked surprised by the comment but at the same time, she could understand. “So this group, what all do you discuss.”

“Mainly women come here after their spouse is out of the picture.”

Out of the picture piqued Laura’s curiosity. “Oh, that means they’ve gotten divorced?”

“No. The husband is dead. There is no escape unless there is death. Many of the women here had filed for divorce, got protective orders and nothing stopped the husbands. It’s always the same, if they can’t have them then no one else can.”

Laura swallowed; those were the last words that Clifton Lydecker spoke to her, “Can I ask how you help women who are still stuck in the marriage?”

The woman smiles before she looks around and says, “Have you ever seen the movie Stranger on a Train? Think if both characters were like Robert Walker and not Farley Granger. I should go; I think I see one of our new members.”

Laura watches the woman leave. She stops as she tries to remember her name but nothing comes to her. She never introduced herself. That was okay, she would figure it out. Walking back to the host Laura touched the woman who jumped at the sudden movement. “Dinah, I was wondering if I could get a list of all the attendees and emails to invite all of these ladies to any of my open class lectures in the future.”

Dinah falters as she thinks, “We usually keep the list of attendees private.”

“Oh I understand, but if any of the ladies are considering going back to school, I’m sure Loyola would be willing to offer tuition assistance if they see individuals actively interested in our open lectures.”

“Um, well I guess that would be beneficial, can I email you the lists?”

Laura smiles but knows the woman cannot see it with her facemask. “Thank you, and if you ever want a history lesson about Chicago or Illinois please contact me again.”

~~  
Laura walked into the house and went straight to the library. Logging into her computer she read the email and saw the list of names. Now all she had to do was find the one who went to her class years ago. 

She became so engrossed in comparing the lists that she did not even hear Hank walk into the room. 

“Laura?”

Jumping at the sound of her name, “Oh Hank, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in.”

“How was your talk?”

Rolling her eyes, “I think I bored them to death. But I found something you might find interesting.”

Hank moves to his favorite leather chair across from her desk.

“All the women who are part of WOA are widows.”

Hank looks at Laura confused, “all of them are abuse survivors but their spouses are dead?”

“Yep. I spoke to one woman whose husband got killed by a wrecking ball but I can’t figure out which one she is.”

“A wrecking ball?”

“She said he must have been drunk and walked into it and it took off his head.”

Hank makes a face at the idea, “Not the usual way to die.”

“I know, and I don’t think it was an accident. Have you ever seen the old Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train?”

Hank shifts his jaw as he thinks, “Is that the one where the guy kills the other man’s wife?”

“Yep. I think that might be your how things are happening.”

“We’ll need more evidence.”

“I’m looking for anything with this list of names but I’m not finding anything.”

“Kim and Hailey said they didn’t learn anything. Nobody would talk to them. If this is a group of”

“I think these women had no choice. The one woman who spoke to me said when the cops came to inform her of her husband’s death they had to take her to the ER for a broken arm and 25 stiches to her head.”

“Sounds like she gave you plenty of details. I want you to come with me to work tomorrow. You can share this information with the team. Maybe we can figure this out.”


	6. Chapter 6

Hank stretched out on the sofa recliner. Laura cuddled next to him with a bowl of popcorn and the twins were around just to have some.

“What kind of movie is this?” Steve asked.

“It’s an old one stupid,” Rick answered.

“Hey we don’t call names,” Laura scolded.

“It’s so old, why isn’t there any color?”

Laura took a breath before burying her head in Hank’s shoulder. After a moment, she pulled away and looked at the twin boys. “I have an idea. Take the rest of the popcorn up to the loft and play on your tablets.”

Rick looked at Steve and they both smiled before taking the bowl and disappearing. 

“I think they only wanted the popcorn,” Hank answered.

“Anything to get them to leave us in peace.”

Hank pulled Laura closer before kissing her forehead. “I can’t believe you gave them back their tablets.”

Laura sighed as she pushed the play button, “Let’s just enjoy the movie.”

A few hours later, Hank had a frown on his face. Laura was right again and he was not sure if he should start a massive investigation or let this case get cold. 

~~  
“You’re upset?” Laura asked as she climbed into their bed.

“I don’t know how to handle this. These women did what had to be done, but we still have no proof that any of them committed the murders. No weapons, no prints, no video.”

“We can discuss with your team in the morning.”

~~  
Mornings always came too soon but Hank, Laura got ready, and before they knew it, Hank was parking his SUV in the 21st lot. The two walked into the station hand in hand and Laura smiled at Trudy and waved at the older woman.

“Hank?” Trudy asked before they made it to the steps.

Pulling Laura with him, Hank walked to the Desk Sargent. “Yeah.”

“Your favorite person is in your office. Laura can I offer you some coffee?”

Laura’s eyes flashed red and Hank swallowed. He was not in the mood for another showdown in his office.

“Thank you Trudy, I’m good at the moment,” Laura responded with the coldness in her voice. “Darling lets go and see Sam.”

Upstairs his team was all busy and when they saw Hank and Laura they all stopped to watch – apparently they all had a feeling a train wreck was about to happen and couldn’t take their eyes away. 

Assistant Deputy Chief saw them and her eyes also narrowed onto Laura. “Hank, I came to discuss the case, is there a reason she is here?”

“Laura is here to assist the case. We’ve used her before, last year when we had that serial killer?”

Miller’s eyes never left Laura’s face and the hatred was felt throughout the office. “I don’t like having civilians” she stopped as Laura interrupted her.

“Oh that’s right; you don’t like having experts come in. Guess that’s why you had to leave Chicago in order to get a promotion.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Oh, as I understand you made improper comments to Commander Perry, Lieutenant Denny Woods and Superintendent Kelton. They all rejected you. I wonder why?”

Hank was unaware of this information and he could see the claws were about to come out. “Ladies, we need to discuss the case,” as he tried to diffuse the situation.

Laura moved away from Hank and sat down on the edge of Jay’s desk. 

“I want to hear if you have any leads by the end of the day,” as Miller stormed out of the office.

Hank pulled Laura off Jay’s desk and into his office where he closed the door. “How do you know all this about Miller?”

Laura looked at her nails then set her purse down and began taking off her jacket. “Oh I went through Clifton’s files. You know he was such an asshole yet I really find I miss him at times.”

Hank stared at his wife. “Do I want to know what he knew about me?”

“Your dirty secrets are safe with me, but I will tell you if Bunny Fletcher ever comes back into Chicago and makes statements about you and Erin, well she might end up in the lake.”

Hank swallowed hard, “Bunny and I never.”

“Oh I know, and I also know who Erin’s real father is but we can talk about that later.”

Hank blinked a few times before he opened the door again. His wife could be scary at times and this was one of them. If Lydecker had not killed himself he could just imagine what trouble that Laura and Lydecker would create to get what they wanted. Picking up his phone he calls Trudy to come upstairs, he figured she might have more insight then anyone when it came to Laura’s story. In the bullpen, Hank cleared his throat, “Laura has some information she wants to share with us.”

Laura smiles, “As you all know I went to a Women Overcoming Abuse meeting yesterday. I spoke to them for about an hour and though they had no questions I did learn something very interesting.” Laura pauses as she looks around the room. “All of the women who are part of WOA are widows. Their spouses have died.”

“That’s probably why none of them spoke to us,” Kim says aloud.

“The woman who I talked with did not give me her name but I did get a list of the individuals who attended and”

“How did you do that?” Hailey asks stunned.

“Um, well I asked for it, and I may have implied that Loyola may be offering free tuition assistance to individuals who attend our free lectures.”

“So you lied,” Jay says with a smile.

“Well anyway the woman I spoke to said she had been in one of my TA classes early on at Loyola. That was only 2 years, so I pulled my files but I can’t connect her name to any of my class lists.”

“Maybe she changed her name?” Kevin points out.

“Maybe, but she also mentioned that about ten years ago her husband was killed.”

Everyone stops and looks right at Laura and wait for her to continue.

“She said the cops came to tell her that her husband had walked into a wrecking ball. However before they told her, they rushed her to the hospital for her broken arm and numerous stitches.”

Hank moves next to Laura, “Now that sounds like a notification that you wouldn’t forget. Someone in CPD has to know this person and then we can find the file.”

“That was before my time, but I can ask my Dad,” Adam says.

“Now never heard the story, so I don’t think it was here in 21,” he pauses as he sees Trudy sit down in an empty seat. 

“A wrecking ball and it took the guy’s head off?”

“Yes, that’s what she said.”

“Yeah I remember it. We were called out to the scene and it was determined a freak accident. I don’t know the officers who made the notification but I can ask around.”

“Okay,” Hank responds. “Let’s get to work. Find this name and start digging into the list Laura has. Find out if any of these women have felonies.”

“Sarge, these women were victims,” Hailey answers.

“I’m not saying they aren’t but we need to find a reason for why Assistant Superintendent Miller’s cousin was killed by tonight.”


	7. Chapter 7

The team was coming up on empty. Trudy had called everyone she knew who might recall this notification, but none responded with confirmation. Flipping through her Rolodex Trudy already felt the pressure of a headache when a young man cleared his throat to get her attention.

Looking the man up and down he was approximately 30 years old, several tattoos on his neck and even on his face along with scars that probably did not come from an accident. His clothes were big and the giant puffer coat hid who knows what. 

“Can I help you?” she asked annoyed that her search is interrupted.

“Yeah, name is Leon Franklin; I’m here to turn myself in.”

“Okay did you violate” she begins as she pulls her eyes away from her computer.

“Naaa. I killed my cousin’s husband.”

Trudy stopped everything, “Who is your cousin?”

“Aisha Miller.”

It was at that moment that Hank and Laura were just walking down and heard the name. Hank whispered to Laura who moved to the Commander’s empty office while Hank went to speak to the man. 

“Can I help you?” he asked.

The young man now annoyed, “My cousin didn’t off her old man. I popped that SOB’s ass. He deserved it after what he did to her.”

Hank looked around and motioned for two uniform officers, “please arrest,” pausing to get the man’s name. 

“Leon Franklin.”

“Please arrest Mr. Franklin and take him up to interrogation.”

Hank turned to Laura who came back to him once the young man was led away. “I guess you won’t be home for dinner?”

“Looks like things just got interesting.”

“Don’t let her get to you.”

“Take the truck home, I’ll ride back with Jay,” as he kisses her cheek.

~~  
Hank stood in the small room with Jay next to him. He saw Adam and Kim in the interrogation room speaking with Leon Franklin. So far, the man had given an exact account of the murder. As for the weapon, he said he disposed of it in the lake. 

“I’d like to remind you that you have the right to an attorney,” Kim said as she looked at Leon. 

“Don’t need one. I have been down this before, and Joe Miller was not the first piece of shit I offed. Motherfucker beat my cousin so many times, I was sick of it. Hearing my momma crying about how if Aisha didn’t get out of there she’d end up dead.”

“And this was in no way related to your gang affiliation?”

“No. However, some of my brothers would agree with me. We are tired of these motherfuckers beaten on their women. Bunch of fucking pussies who think its okay to beat up on these women because they do not have the balls to take it out on who they are really pissed off with. Joe was a fucking pussy when it came to his work. I saw how that woman boss of his yelled at him all the time telling him he was no good and worthless. He took it out on Aisha. She did not do anything to him. And that motherfucker’s family ain’t any better. If I had my way, I would have killed off Joe and all his family. Save the world from assholes.”

Kim looked at Adam. 

“I have a question,” Adam asked, “you don’t happen to know what happened to these people do you?” as he opens a folder and pulls out pictures of the other victims.

Leon glanced at them, “Looks like they got what they deserved to.”

~~  
Hank stood in Assistant Deputy Superintendent Miller’s office and handed her the file. “Looks like your cousin was killed by an angry relative.”

Miller glanced at the report before dropping it on the desk. “You know Hank, I like you. However your wife needs to go.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” as she moves around the desk to stand in front of him. “I don’t like sharing.”

Hank swallowed, “I’m going to ask you politely to stop. If you do not I will take this up with Crawford and HR.”

“Oh come on Hank we’re just trying to have a little fun.”

“Ma’am, I am happily married. I have no desire to look elsewhere for any sort of company. If you refuse to back off, I will be forced to report your behavior.”

Miller narrowed her eyes, “Thank you Sargent for this report. My family appreciates you finding my cousin’s murderer. You can leave now.”

“Yes ma’am.”


End file.
